Case Study

The Douglasville-Douglas County Water and Sewer Authority(WSA) has been delivering quality water and wastewater service to more than 90,000 Douglas County residents for over 17 years.WSA's slogan "Award-Winning Service For Our Local Community," proves to be much more than just advertising jargon. Over the past 17 years, their honors have included three citations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for best wastewater treatment plant in the EPA's sevenstate Southeast region, two citations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for best wastewater treatment plant in the nation and one award for best overall water system operation in the EPA's seven-state Southeast region.

In addition, their water and wastewater treatment plants and laboratories have been named best in the state on numerous occasions by the Georgia Water & Pollution Control Association. And in a taste test sponsored by GW & PCA and EPA, Douglasville-Douglas County water was named the Best Tasting Water in Georgia for 2003.

The increase in complaints was directly related to increased population in the area surrounding the plant. Nevertheless, the number of complaints was up and as a responsible neighbor WSA had to do something about the odor.

In June of 2003, based on a referral from another wastewater utility, WSA decided to try out Ecosorb™ Natural Organic Odor Neutralizer. "It's working very well. It's the best thing we've ever tried," said Lee Smith, superintendent of the Southside Wastewater Treatment Plant. "We keep a log of complaints we receive, and they are way down since June," Smith continues. WSA is finding success throughout the entire plant, including in particularly odorous areas such as sludge handling.